


Lena's Kryptonite

by SilentHero



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Torture, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, I'm pretending Mon-El doesn't exist, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, So much Lena whump, Supercorp is the main ship, fluff at the end, not really tho, sanvers on the side, there will be a happy ending I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2019-08-08 07:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16424756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentHero/pseuds/SilentHero
Summary: Cadmus planned on releasing aerosolized Kryptonite into the atmosphere to keep Supergirl from living on Earth, but they don't have enough Kryptonite. Luckily, Lillian knows just the Luthor that can make synthetic Kryptonite, however, she might need some persuading. . .OrLena gets taken by Cadmus and is tortured for instructions on how to make Kryptonite, but, being the self-sacrificing girlfriend she is, Lena won't tell.





	1. Losing Lena

Sleep pulled at her eyes and slouched her usually on point posture. Lena covered her face with her hands as she leaned back in her chair. Night had long since fallen over a heroless National City and a light rain had given the city a melancholy feel. She threw an empty cup in the already overflowing trash bin and went to pour herself another cup of coffee, refusing to sleep until Supergirl, Kara, was safe and back in her arms. It had been- Lena glanced at the clock- 23 hours and counting since Supergirl had been kidnapped by Cadmus.

  
Kara had been responding to a bomb threat at a well known alien bar, not a big deal, really, nothing the city’s hero couldn’t handle. However, one small issue took a turn for the worse when black clad uniforms stormed the building, throwing mysterious canisters. Kara knew something was wrong, you could see the pain on her face as green smoke started to fill the room, she was unconscious before she hit the floor. The way the veins of green crawled up Kara’s face was something that Lena would never forget. By the time the DEO had arrived, it was too late, Cadmus had took Supergirl without leaving a trace behind. Only then did Alex see a person hiding behind the counter that had recorded the whole disaster.

  
Lena sighed, breaking her train of thought. From the first moment she saw the people in those uniforms enter the bar, she’d known it was Cadmus. Only her mother could be so petty as to risk alien lives to capture Supergirl. Lena tried her best to do what she could at the DEO with Alex, Winn, and Hank but they weren’t able to make any progress. After what seemed like an eternity, Hank finally made everyone go home, well everyone besides Lena, who decided to go to L Corp and continue the search. If the DEO alone couldn’t find Kara, maybe with L Corp’s combined resources, they could.

  
Heading back to her desk, Lena looked at her computer screen. She was rewatching the video at the alien bar, trying to pick up on any clues that would help them find Kara. A pang of guilt went through Lena’s heart. It was her fault that her girlfriend got kidnapped, _it was her own mother that took her, for crying out loud!_ Lena tried pushing these thoughts away to focus on her finding her but, she couldn’t help but think about what Kara must be going through in the hands of Cadmus. . . Tears managed to slip their way down Lena’s cheeks as the reality of the whole situation caught up to her. At the DEO, she was too focused on finding Kara with the others, but here, she could really stop and think about how dire the situation was, if they didn’t get to Kara soon. . . there was a chance Lena would never get to see her best friend, her girlfriend, ever again.

  
Sniffing, Lena rubbed her eyes. She wouldn’t let that happen, she’d find Kara, no matter what, the city needed Supergirl- and she needed Kara. As she set back to work, Lena’s phone rang. Assuming Alex was calling about a breakthrough, because _who else would be calling at this absurd hour?_ , Lena quickly answered.  
“Please tell me you’ve got something.”

  
“Oh, I’ve got something alright, one disgusting Kryptonian in need of disposal.”

  
Lena stood up quickly, knocking her chair over, at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line- Lillian.

  
“Where is she?” Lena practically yelled into the phone she now held in an iron grip, all control of her emotions gone.

  
“Now Lena, didn’t I teach you better than to yell at your own mother?” Lillian replied in a patient tone.

  
Lena knew that if she couldn’t control her anger, she’d would never be able to help Supergirl.

_Calm down, Lena, use your brain! Don’t let Lillian work you up,_ she reminded herself.  _Trace the call!_

She hurriedly opened a program on her laptop to trace her mother’s phone. “Oh bull, you only taught me what it took to live up to the Luthor name and how I was never good enough for the family, how I could never measure up to Lex.” Lena spat, “Now tell me where Supergirl is!” Tears pricked at her eyes; don’t lose control of your emotions now. She had to keep Lillian on the line for this to work.

  
“Now what would be the fun in that? I know you love a good challenge, so find Supergirl without having me hand everything to you like Lex did.”

  
“I have had to do everything in my life myself, every success I’ve achieved was no thanks to you or the family name.” _Keep the conversation going, the trace is almost done, just a couple more sec-_ The computer chirped, the call was traced to _inside L Corp?!_

  
Lena let out a gasp and dropped her phone. She needed to get out of her office and fast. There was no Supergirl to help her now. Glancing back at the screen, she could see that Lillian was almost to her floor.

  
“Shit!” Lena stumbled over her fallen desk chair, she rushed over to the panic button on the opposite wall that had a direct connection to the DEO.  
_Alex will be here soon, hopefully with enough firepower to stop my mother here, no doubt she knows where Kara is._

  
Now, Lena had to devise a plan to one, stall long enough for the DEO to arrive, and two, keep herself alive until then. Multiple failsafes were put in place to help Lena out of a tight spot hidden throughout her office; there were more assassination attempts on Lena than she bothered to keep track of, because of this, she was left with two choices, she could sit back and let people’s hate for the Luthor reputation be the end of her or she could fight to change it until her last breath- and Luthors always went down fighting. Opting on getting the gun hidden on the underside of her desk, Lena ran toward the office bathroom. It probably wasn't the brightest idea Lena had come up with, but being mentally drained and running off of nothing but coffee tended to dull her mind. At least in the bathroom, there was a wall in between her and Cadmus' forces.

  
The shattering of all of her office’s windows was the first sign that Lena was in a losing fight. Cadmus troops swung in through the now gaping hole in the side of the building. Her steal-enforced door was next to go, a controlled explosion ripping it off its hinges as if it were made of cardboard. While the soldiers were trying to find Lena, she managed to angle herself so she could aim her gun without leaving herself out in the open. Aiming at their legs, the first two were easy enough to hit, but when twenty trained Cadmus operatives hear shooting in the next room over, it doesn’t take long to deduce what is happening. Guns turned toward the bathroom, Lena was alarmingly outnumbered.

  
They must have orders not to kill me, or else I would have been riddled with lead by now. _If this is how Lillian shows love, I wouldn’t be surprised._  
Before the situation had a chance to cause more destruction, Lillian walked into the now wrecked office.

  
_Speak of the devil…_ “Mother, how nice of you to visit, but, I must say, the phone call was more than enough. Besides, L Corp is closed, feel free to schedule an appointment if you’d like.” Lena feigned a calm and collected demeanor from her protective position in the bathroom. Where is the DEO?! Come on, Alex, get here soon.

  
Lillian smirked at her daughter’s brazen remark. Her eyes swept around the destroyed office, broken glass covered majority of the floor, the desk was overturned, papers strewn were about, pieces of the once unbreakable door were left barely standing. She sighed when she saw the two injured Cadmus soldiers. Others were tending to the wounds but it didn’t look fatal. Lena could have easily killed at least these two; from the amount of training Lena received as a child under the Luthor’s care, she had the skills that rivaled a sharp shooter. But of course, Lena was always trying to prove she wasn’t a killer- or like the rest of the Luthor family.  
“I see you’ve hit two of my soldiers, Lena, I thought you could have done more damage than that,” Lillian called out, “disappointing as usual.”

  
Lena squeezed her eyes shut against the rage building up inside her, the gun in her hand shaking “Why are you here? Why now? Don’t you have other things to worry about. . . like detaining Supergirl?” Her mind was racing with the possible outcomes this situation, none of them ended well for her. _It’s been at least three minutes since I activated the panic button, so I need to stall for another five minutes at a minimum. I can do that? Just talk, keep talking._ “Lex didn’t drag the Luthor name through enough mud? You had to try and kill Supers too?”

  
Lillian eyed the wall Lena was hiding behind, there was no way her people could get to her without sustaining more injuries. Sure, some of the Cadmus troops were expendable but she needed Lena alive, no question. She waved some of her people out of the room, the injured two taken with them, in hopes of deescalating the situation. “Supergirl is weak like her cousin when exposed to a certain rock, I’m sure you know of it, detaining the alien is proving to be no problem at all. In fact, she was easier to capture than you. Now if you’d had a Kryptonite of your own, Lena, we could end this nonsense quickly.” Lillian kept her eyes trained on the bathroom, trying to predict her daughter’s next move.

  
The words tumbled out of Lena’s mouth before she could stop them, “Supergirl is better than you’ll ever be, better than Cadmus, better than most of humanity, and most certainly better than me. Killing her will change none of that. What she stood for will continue on, even if you kill her.” Tears fell from her eyes, she couldn’t stand Kara being in danger by being Supergirl because of threats like her mother but she always admired how she would willingly lay down her own life for people she’s never met before, her selflessness was one of the things that made her fall in love with her in the first place.

  
Lillian’s eyes widened at Lena’s rambling, recognition giving her an idea. This time, when she spoke, her voice was deadly grave, “Since it seems that you care so much about this alien hero, then maybe you’ll put down the gun and come out. . .”

“Bullshit, like I’d ever be stupid enough to-“

“Or else I’ll kill Supergirl.”

Silence filled the office. No one dared to breathe as Lillian’s threat hung in the air. Guns were still pointed at Lena’s voice behind the wall but Lillian knew she had won. Her daughter was too soft to let that alien’s blood get on her hands, she was already busy trying to them clean.

  
In the bathroom, Lena was a mess. There was no chance of her getting out without being in the hands of Cadmus. The DEO wouldn’t get here in time, Lena would be toast as soon as she stepped out in the open. Taking a deep breath, she knew what she had to do.

  
“Ok, I give up. I’m giving up.” Lena whispered into the stillness of the room.

  
Lillian smiled as a gun slid across the office floor toward her. Lena soon followed suit, walking away from the little cover she had. Seeing her for the first time, Lillian noticed just how much Lena had been crying, her cheeks were red and tear stained, her usually vibrant eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

  
“You’ve finally come to your senses, took you long enough” Lillian crossed her arms as Lena stared at her, silently fuming. “Now, we are going to have to take you to a discrete location and we can’t have you telling the DEO about it if you do manage to escape,” Lena’s eyes flashed with hope, Lillian was quick to stomp it out, “which is unlikely. So, we’ll have to sedate you.” She nodded to a man that was standing off to the side of the room holding a syringe full of an orange colored liquid.

  
Lena backed away, “If you think you can dose me with that, you’re crazy,”

  
“Crazy enough to kill a Super.” Lena froze, looking at Lillian’s face for a sign that she was bluffing, but Lena knew it was hopeless- her mother never bluffed.

  
This time Lena didn’t resist as the needle filled her veins with the unknown substance. She could feel the effects instantly; her already exhausted mind slowing down. She tried to blink away this new found drowsiness, but it was getting hard to even stand. Two of Lillian’s people came on either side of Lena and grabbed her arms, supporting her as she felt her knees begin to give out.

  
“It was my fault really,” Lillian started, Lena barely managed to lift her head to meet her mother’s gaze. “I didn’t realize your Kryptonite was Supergirl.”


	2. Separation and Strained Superpowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post this chapter, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do next. I think I'll be able to post chapters quicker now that I have the storyline in mind.

Kara sat, slumped in the corner of the Kryptonite enforced room, too tired to do anything. The amount of the green rock in the room wasn’t enough to actually harm the Super, but it drained her energy and made her almost as weak as a human. Besides, she had already tried breaking out and quickly learned that it was a waste of the little energy she had. The room had nothing to help her escape, having only thick concrete walls and a small mat in the corner she was currently sitting on. It was almost pitch black, save for the green glow of the Kryptonite infused in the walls and a small light that hung overhead.

She could tell she was being kept at some underground facility; there were no windows lining the walls, and, even if she really concentrated, her superhearing couldn’t pick up any noise coming from the city, only the muted conversations of the Cadmus guards stationed outside her room. They were talking about moving on to the next phase of Lillian’s great scheme. . . Kara winced and put a hand against her forehead. Trying to use her powers took more energy than she had. Sighing, she leaned her head against the wall. Kara supposed it could have been worse, she’d only been stuck here for a day, they’d even brought in food and water after the first couple of hours, and Lillian had done nothing to harm her so far,

 _Well, besides the fact that she kidnapped me and has me locked in a room with Kryptonite._ Kara  chuckled into the emptiness of the cell. 

She had faith that DEO agents would be knocking down the door that kept her trapped in Lillian’s clutches, especially with Alex, Winn, Hank, and Lena working on locating her. Kara’s mind lingered on the thought of her girlfriend worrying about her. 

 _She must be working herself to the point of exhaustion, not eating or sleeping until I’m found._ Kara huffed, anxious about being kept away from Lena. _She probably blames herself for me getting kidnapped._

Standing up to stretch her legs, Kara moved around the small room. Being cooped up for so long was starting to irritate her, along with the constant hindrance of the Kryptonite on her senses. She drifted over to the door, silently begging for Alex to rip it off its hinges. Of course, she was met with no such luck. Closing her eyes again, she focused on the guards talking in the hallway outside the cell. 

“. . . still haven’t made any progress towards finding the base. We’ll be safe here for a week, at least, maybe even longer.”

“They might have another chance to find us though. Wasn’t Lillian planning on breaking into L Corp?”

Kara gasped and broke her concentration. _What. . . why is Lillian there? Is Lena-? No, she could be at her penthouse, or maybe safe at the DEO. Maybe Lillian just wanted a piece of L Corp tech?_ Despite her brain creating reasons why Lena would be away from L Corp, she felt a sense of dread pool in her stomach. Kara ignored the throbbing of her head and tuned into the conversation again. 

“Apparently she needed to get the formula for some type of man-made Kryptonite, I think?”

“Listen man, I just try to keep my head down and follow orders. If Lillian wants to eradicate the world of Supers or whatever she was droning on about, there’s not much anyone can do to stop her, much less that daughter of hers-”

Kara roughly sat down where she stood. Sweat was rolling down the sides of her face as she heaved air into her lungs. She was straining herself trying to use her powers and it was clearly taking a toll on her, but it was nothing compared to what she had learned.

 _Only Lena knows how to make synthetic Kryptonite. Lillian has to be going after her! They are going to use Lena against me. . . but she’d never tell them the formula, she’d die before that happens._ Silent tears started to roll down Kara’s cheeks. _That’s why they haven’t done anything to me, Lillian doesn’t have enough Kryptonite to actually do any harm._

But that wasn’t what was making Kara’s stomach churn.

_Lena would rather get herself killed than give Cadmus what they want._

Kara was the one who choose to be National City’s hero and put her life at risk for the good of the people, not Lena. The young Luthor already had a big enough target on her back because of her last name and because she was dating a Super, and now, because of her Supergirl persona, Lena was in even more danger. 

This was worse than whatever torture Lillian could put her through.


	3. Watching and Wondering

Alex stepped into mass chaos as soon as she set foot in the building, but she knew it was inevitable. Even at this ungodly hour of four o’clock in the morning, everyone at the DEO was talking about the latest news: Lena Luthor had been kidnapped by none other than Cadmus.

Hank called her about thirty minutes ago, and it wasn’t like Alex was having any luck trying to sleep with her baby sister missing. She got here in an instant; Maggie reciting words of reassurance as she pulled clothes on and flew out the door. Alex promised her girlfriend that she would be home soon, that she’d be safe, that she’d be careful, and that she wouldn’t take unnecessary risks because “You can’t help Kara if you’re not thinking straight, well, I guess, you don’t think straight because of obvious reasons. . . oh, you know what I mean- take care of yourself out there and bring them back home” Alex softly smiled, remembering Maggie’s rant that she drowsily slurred before Alex dashed over to the DEO. She really was the greatest girlfriend.

Alex made her way down the stairs and to the main control room where Hank was talking to Winn, concern painted on both of their faces. Rolling her shoulders, Alex approached them, prepared for the worst case scenario. 

Acknowledging her arrival, Hank turned toward Winn, “Pull up the security feed from Ms. Luthor’s office when she first received the phone call.” 

Winn moved over to his computer, tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and soon images of Lena at her desk decorated the screens around the room. Looking at the pictures, Alex could make out that it was night and, judging by the amount of coffee cups littering the office floor, Lena was overworking herself trying to find Supergirl. 

“I sent everyone home last night when we weren’t making any progress towards finding Supergirl, but it looks like Ms. Luthor had other plans. The security cameras show her arriving at L Corp a little after everyone left the DEO. Apparently, she thought she could continue working on finding Cadmus.”

The video starts playing, showing Lena typing away on her computer. Winn fast forwarded through the security feed and nothing was out of the ordinary for a few hours as the time stamp in the corner of the screen let the time slip away. Eyes glued to the screen, Alex watched Lena toggle between staring at her computer, drinking coffee, and crying. Lena was clearly having a difficult time coping without her girlfriend, but who wouldn’t? She just wished that she would have stayed with Lena, instead of letting her suffer alone.

Eventually, Lena’s phone rang and she jumped out of her chair when she answered it- not a good sign.

Winn stopped fast forwarding and pointed out, “The resolution of the security feed is too low to make out the caller ID on Lena’s phone, but, according to her phone records, Lillian is the one calling her.” 

What Winn meant to say is that this marks the point where it all went to hell in a hand basket. 

Alex watched as Lena smashed the panic button on the wall and grab the gun that was hidden away under her desk. She couldn’t help but feel nervous seeing Lena this frightened as she ran into the bathroom to hide from the Cadmus troops busting down her door. 

The security camera showed Lena in a standoff with countless Cadmus members. Alex silently cheered as Lena took down two of Lillian’s people, despite knowing that Lena would get captured in the end. 

 _At least she is going down fighting._  

Alex hoped that, somehow, she’d watch Lena hold off Cadmus long enough for the DEO to get there, but deep down she knew what was going to happen. Against Alex’s wishful pleading, the scene ultimately played out with Lena sliding her gun across the office and surrendering. Alex closed her eyes, shielding herself from the screens before her as her mind went on a frenzy. 

_Oh, the DEO should have gotten there quicker. Lena would still be safe! Now both of them are missing. What am I supposed to do now? I should have been with her. If only I-_

“Crazy enough to kill a Super.”

Alex was snapped out of her thoughts by Lillian speaking in the video. She was taking it too far by threatening Kara’s life to get Lena to do her bidding, but when did Lillian ever not manipulate people? Scanning the scene, she saw a man holding a syringe of orange liquid standing next to Lena. 

“What’s that Cadmus soldier have in his hand? Do we know what kind of chemical she was, I’m assuming, dosed with? And how do we know if Lillian is telling the truth?” Alex asked as Lillian explained that to Lena that she would have to be put to sleep temporarily so she wouldn’t figure where they were taking her.

“We don’t know what the substance is yet, we have some agents working on analyzing it now. But, I don’t think Lillian is lying. The chemical probably will just sedate Lena, Cadmus wouldn’t go through all this trouble to harm her now.” Hank theorized, face trained on the screen.

Now, Lena was being injected with the mystery substance. Soon enough, she went limp, only the two Cadmus guards holding her arms kept her from falling. Alex felt guilt gnawing at her as she watched what happened next. 

Lillian sighed, her demeanor relaxing. “We need to get out of here quickly, it looks like she hit the panic button before we got here. The DEO will be here any minute. But get some restraints on her, we don’t want to take any chances of her waking up and escaping.” 

The two hurriedly handcuffed Lena’s unmoving wrists in front of her, tied her ankles, and carried her out of the camera’s frame all within a minute. Now the last one in Lena’s office, Lillian turned on her heel and glanced over the destroyed office before walking out of view, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

The DEO stayed quite as the security camera showed precious minutes ticking by. Exactly two minutes after Lillian walked out of the shot, DEO agents were seen running into the office with guns drawn. Knowing what happened next, Alex turned away from the screen and ran a hand through her hair.

_How ironic, a few minutes earlier and Lena wouldn’t be gone. If I had just made sure she went home after we left the DEO. . . like it would have mattered, Lillian would have found her anyway. Wait, why does she need Lena? What made Lillian risk getting caught to go after her?_

Winn stopped the recording as Alex spoke up, “Why did Lillian need to kidnap Lena? Wasn’t taking Supergirl enough?”

“Since we don’t know what Lillian is planning, we can’t say why Lena is so critical to Lillian’s plan.” Hank stated, “As of right now, we still have made no progress towards finding Cadmus, but now we are one Luthor short.” 

Alex wanted to punch a wall.


	4. Refusing and Rebelling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next one! I already started on chapter 5 so it'll be up soon!

Lena blearily opened her eyes just to shut them again, the fluorescent lights decorating the ceiling too bright for her. Cracking one eye open, she slowly surveyed her surroundings with a stiff neck. At first, Lena had no idea where she was or what happened, her groggy mind was struggling through her hazy memories.

_Am I hungover? I feel terrible. . . Where am I? I was. . . at the DEO, helping look for Kara. . . Alex, Winn, and Hank, yes, we were working together. Wait, no, my mother was there- Oh, L Corp! I went there to research possible Cadmus safe houses when. . . my mother- she kidnapped me, the drug in the syringe-  
_

Memories of the disaster at L Corp surged through her mind, both eyes snapping open, ignoring the lights of the unknown location. Lena tried to move only to be met with the rattle of chains against metal. She sat with her wrists handcuffed to the arms of a chair and ankles bound to the chair’s legs. Lena took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before assessing the situation. She was sitting in the middle of a gray room with no windows and two doors, one on the wall on front of her and on the one behind. The door behind her was next to a mirror built into the wall, like police interrogation rooms have in the crime shows Lena loves to watch. But besides that, the walls were bare and the concrete floor free of any stains. Turning her neck as far to the right as she could, Lena could make out a table shoved in the far corner with some kind of silver objects on it. Sighing, Lena turned back around.

_If my mother is keeping me here, that probably means Kara is here, too. I just need to somehow let the DEO know where we are, but I don’t even know where I am. I wonder if Alex knows what happened-_

The sound of footsteps echoed outside of the door in front of Lena, getting closer and closer with each click of what sounded like high heels. Feeling a spike of panic course through her veins, Lena tried to pull her wrist out of the cuff. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was a useless attempt- Cadmus wouldn’t let her go that easily. Her wrist had turned red and started to bleed when the door swung open. 

Lillian stood in the doorway. Lena stopped moving, no longer trying to escape. The air was heavy with tension as Lillian walked up to the chair and crouched down to meet Lena’s eye level. 

She eyed Lena’s wrist, “There’s no use in trying to get out, so don’t bother. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by simply cooperating, Lena.”

“I’ll never help you hurt Supergirl, mother,” Lena spat. “You know I won’t. Whatever your plan is, I am not going to be a part of it. You’ll have to kill me before that happens.”

Lillian stood up and began to slowly pace the room, always remaining in Lena’s line of sight. “My plan doesn’t involve you getting hurt in any way. I wouldn’t deliberately want anything bad to happen to you. No matter what you may think of me, I don’t wish you to die, Lena.” Hands clasped behind her back, Lillian stopped pacing and turned to look at Lena. 

_She looks so vulnerable now, even if I’m the one tied to a chair. She knows that I’m not going to willingly help her, she knows that if she wants something from me, she’ll have to beat it out of me. At least, she cares about me, if only a little._

Looking directly at Lena, she could see that her eyes almost looked sad. _Almost._  

“I’m only going to ask this once. This is the only chance you’re going to get to take the easy way out. You will not be harmed and you’ll finally be a real Luthor.”

 _Like Lex,_ Lena scoffed.

“What is the formula for synthetic Kryptonite?”

Lena blinked once, then twice. “I don’t know.” Her face remained as still as stone, she was trying her best to remain composed while her thoughts went into a frenzy:

_What- how does Lillian know I can make Kryptonite? How long has she known? How much Kryptonite does she want? Oh no, what’s she going to use it for? Kara. . . I can’t tell them how to make it. I can’t! No matter what. I won’t let them hurt her._

Lillian somehow knew Lena would lie. Now it is going to be ten times harder to keep her plan on track, but she is not going to let her stubborn daughter stop her from ridding the world of Supers. _Can’t she see that I’m trying to make the world a safer place by getting rid of these aliens?_

Lena never broke eye contact with Lillian, even after she plainly lied to her face. She needed to know whether her mother believed her or not. After a few seconds, Lillian looked up, over Lena’s head, and gave a slight nod. Before Lena could turn to see what she was looking at, Lillian grabbed her chin and forced her face forward. 

“Lena, I know you’re not telling me the truth.” Her grip tightened, “Don’t worry though, we’ll get what we need out of you soon enough.”

Lena barely managed to get out an angry sounding grunt before she heard the door behind her open and close. 

Lillian looked at Lena’s determined eyes as a Cadmus soldier walked up behind Lena and another went to the table in the corner of the room. “Do what you will with her, but keep her alive. We need that formula. As soon as she gives in, alert me immediately.” 

Letting go of Lena’s chin, Lillian made her way toward the door.

“You won’t win.” Lena called out after her.

Ignoring her, Lillian sighed, “It’s too bad, I really didn’t want it to go this way, but you understand, it’s just business.” With that, the door closed, leaving Lena alone with the two Cadmus soldiers.


	5. Punching and Plans

After opting to punch a fist-friendly punching bag over a concrete wall, Alex felt a little bit better. Her mind wasn’t as chaotic as before, she could tackle this problem in a way that wasn’t reckless, as per Maggie’s wishes. She could get back two of the most important people in her life, preferably without casualties. She could hunt down Lillian Luthor. She could totally kick Cadmus’ ass- that made Alex smile. 

Walking down to one of the DEO’s many labs, Alex met with Hank and Winn. The latter was typing away at a computer while Hank sat on the floor with his eyes shut. Assuming that Hank was using his powers in some way, Alex quietly side stepped around him. 

Winn looked up from his computer screen, “Hey, have fun punchin’ stuff? You look all sweaty.”

Alex rolled her eyes, “That’s definitely a good way to greet a person.” Winn sheepishly smiled. 

“Anyway, how are things coming along? What exactly is Hank doing?”

“Oh, yeah, about that, I know I told you that Hank and I would make some progress toward finding them, but, uh, we seem to be at a dead end.” 

Anger crept up inside of Alex at the bad news. How could have Cadmus gotten away so gracefully when the DEO agents were so close to stopping them?

“Hank is searching for Kara and Lena telepathically, he even tried looking for Lillian, but there’s been no luck. Lillian probably has them outside the city, making it harder for Hank to find them.” Winn theorized.

Nodding Alex glanced at Hank before turning back to Winn. “I thought for sure Hank would be able to find them, what do you-”

“You know, it’s much easier to concentrate when there aren’t two people talking about you in the room.” Hank opened his eyes and stood up.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to get in the loop,” Alex apologized.

“No, it’s fine. It’s no use to waste my powers. Later this afternoon, I will have to make an appearance in public as Supergirl. National City can’t know she has gone missing, crime will spiral out of control. I’ll make rounds through the city to see if I can find any sign of where Cadmus took them.”

“Yeah, and I am looking into abandoned or remote buildings on the outskirts or outside of the city. Cadmus must need some kind of remote location to hold someone as strong as Kara,” Winn added. 

Feeling a slight twinge of hope in her chest, Alex felt a small smile form on her lips. “I can take a team back to L Corp to see if we can scrounge up any missed clues. Cadmus may have gotten away, but not without making a mistake somewhere along the line.”

“I agree, there is no room to take risks. We have to go over everything again.” Hank replied. “Also, ask National City PD to keep an eye out for any sign of Cadmus discreetly. As I already said, we need to keep this on the down low. And Alex, I know you have your. . . connections to some NCPD officers,” Hank slightly smiled.

“I can ahead over now and get NCPD involved in the search. I’ll get Maggie and a few other officers to go to L Corp with me so we can have some fresh eyes look at the scene.” 

With that, Hank and Alex said their goodbyes to Winn and left the room, the latter turning back to focus on his computer. They all were anxious to start their new tasks.

Making their way through the various halls of the DEO, Alex managed to walk past the last few agents nearby before she felt tears slide down her face. Slowing down her pace, Alex took a shaky breath. Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, Alex whispered, “I . . . what if we don’t find them in time? What are we supposed to do?”

“Don’t go down that path, Alex. We will find them, both of them, alive.” Hank turned to wrapped his arms around Alex’s trembling body. “We must have hope.”

Even though there was a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes, Alex broke the hug between them. She could not afford to get emotional, she had a job to do.

Sealing her emotions away, at least for now, she said, “Thanks, for the pep talk, I needed to hear that. And when we do find them, Cadmus won’t know what hit them.” 

Giving Hank a watery smile, Alex turned and walked away, with a determined look in her eyes.


	6. Speak or Shut Up

“I’m going to ask you once more. How-”

She rolled her eyes. “You know, insanity can be described as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. No offense, but it seems that you could be insane. Which makes sense, having to work for my mother for so long. Might I suggest-” Lena’s remark with cut short by a yelp of pain.

Removing the small taser, the Cadmus guard towered over Lena’s doubled over form. “You know, for someone being tortured, you can’t seem to shut up.”

Gasping as the remaining electricity coursed through her body, Lena’s watery eyes looked up at the guard only to meet a stone cold glare. The taser he held wasn’t a typical one that police and security guards had that were used to temporarily subdue someone. This one had a low enough voltage that it wouldn’t paralyze, but only cause extreme discomfort. 

Lena still sat in the room that her mother left her in, bound to a chair. This had been going on for at least forty minutes but Lena’s resolve was no where near close to breaking. Having been kidnapped before, Lena tended to be harder to break than your average hostage. 

Finally feeling the affects of the taser wear off, Lena sat up straighter. _You’re gonna have to try harder than that to get the Kryptonite formula. You aren’t going to hurt Kara, no matter what._

“You call this torture? Please, this is like a cake walk compared to-” The punch came out of no where. A strong fist hit Lena square in the jaw, whipping her head to the side. Stars danced in front of Lena’s eyes as she tried to gather her bearings. Her reddened cheek felt completely numb as it already began to swell. She could taste blood quickly filling her mouth and running down her chin. 

Gently opening and closing her mouth, the guard spoke. “What? Nothing to say? Took long enough. Jeez, you are a hard person to shut up.” Lena glowered, but didn’t dare to speak.

Sighing, the guard knew he’d have to do a lot to crack the Luthor. “I honestly don’t think we are getting anywhere, we’ve been going in circles for what feels like an eternity. Lillian said you’d be a pain but torturing you is no where near as fun as I thought it’d be.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he eyed Lena. She looked downright exhausted, she had been since they first brought her in. Dark circles rimmed her glassy eyes and stood out on her pale face. Along with a bruise that formed on the side of her mouth and blood trickling from her lips.

Smirking at the damage done, he came up with a strategy- _Time is the Luthor’s worse enemy, seeing how tired she is now, I’ll just wait her out. Pain doesn’t seem to faze her, but mix that with fatigue. . . She’ll get more weary and eventually break- they all do._

“I know you are in no condition to talk without causing more pain in your jaw. Maybe if you were smart, you’d use this time to gather your thoughts so you can explain how to make Kryptonite when I get back. But then again, if you were smart you would’ve told me in the first place.” 

The guard stretched and was about to head to the door when he looked back at the bloody Luthor. “Unless, you’d like to tell me now and save yourself from more pain later on?”

Lena looked down, seeming to be deep in thought, before she looked up at the guard and nodded- a broken gaze in her eyes. Surprised that the Luthor surrendered, the guard walked back over to Lena and crouched down in front of her.

Watching her slowly move her mouth, apparently trying to work through the pain, the guard spat, “well, get on with it. I don’t have all day.”

Lena stared him for a split second and head butted him right in the mouth. The guard stumbled backward, his hand flying to cover his face. She could see a little bit of blood run in between his fingers. Her head hurt where it hit his face, but she quickly brushed it off to enjoy the guard’s reaction.

“Now you know how it feels,” Lena smirked.

Standing up, the guard grabbed the taser and lumbered over to Lena. He rammed it into her shoulder with more force than necessary, causing Lena to scream out in pain. The electricity burned all the way down to her toes.

Shoving the taser in his pocket, he revealed bloody teeth to speak, “Next time I come in here, you better tell me what I want to hear.” With that, the walked out and slammed the door behind him.

Trembling in the chair, Lena hurt all over, but she couldn’t help but manage a smile. “Worth it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's uh been a while. . . but I'm back with a new chapter! Hopefully this story can be wrapped up soon. Thanks for reading. Until next time.


	7. Hurt and (Not Really) Helpless

She had a plan. A fool proof plan that would definitely work _and_ she might not even die in the process, an added bonus. She had to admit, she had to do her fair share of thinking to come up with this scheme, but there wasn’t much else to do when tied to a chair. Now all she had to do was set the plan in motion with just her wits and grade A acting skills. The plan had an abundance of risk and a slight amount of improv, but it was no different than her daily life. And yeah, Lena’s scheme might her cause her to encounter a few fights here and there, but it was all in a good day’s work. 

Lena rolled her sore shoulders and cracked her stiff neck- she was ready. As soon as she heard footsteps walking down the hallway, Lena used all her willpower and bit her tongue hard, causing tears to prick her eyes and warm blood to flow from her newest injury. Letting fresh blood run through her lips, she hunched over slightly to try to make herself look as vulnerable and powerless as possible. The echoing footfalls were almost at the door. Next, she blinked hard and forced herself to create more tears from her already watery eyes. The doorknob twisted open. Inhaling deeply, step one of Lena’s plan was complete.

The same Cadmus guard entered, shutting the door behind him. A keycard dangled from the side of his belt- a vital part of the plan. He glanced at Lena in her (pretend) helpless state and gave a sickening smile. Lena had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. _Stupid man- always quick to write off a woman as weak and defenseless, I know the type. This isn’t my first rodeo, mister, I’ve been through this torture stuff before._

He stalked over to where Lena sat, “By the looks of you, it seems like you’re ready to talk for real now- no more bullshit.” _He took the bait, on to part two. Impeccable acting skills, you’re up!_

Taking a shaky breath, Lena started. “I’m- uh, yes, no more- no more bull,” _Cue more tears._ “I’m ready now,” _Avoid eye contact, look at the floor._ “I’ll talk.”

“Of course you will, I knew you’d break sometime,” he arrogantly stated matter-of-factly. 

The guard brought over another metal chair and placed it in front of her. Just before he began to sit down, Lena noticed that he still toted the taser in his right hand. Wearily, she started the next part of her act.

Reminding herself to behave as broken as possible (which sadly wasn’t difficult for her), she spoke up, “Under one condition.”

The man froze in his seat, eyes a cold glare and brows furrowed. Recomposing himself, he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms in front of him, “Little lady, I don’t know if you know this but, you’re in no position to negotiate.” Eyes motioning to the binds around her wrists and ankles. “There’s only one way that this can end without a bullet in your head- you do what I ask, and even that way, I can’t guarantee an entirely painless situation.”

Having already predicted this reply, Lena knew what to say next. “I- I know, and I will tell you what you need to know. It’s just that. . . *sniffle* I want to-” _And now for the grand finale._ “I want to help.”

Lena had never seen an actual deer in headlights, but she figured the look on the guard’s face was the human equivalent. He somehow looked surprised and confused at the same time. 

Sensing that she had to further explain herself, Lena continued, “After all this time, I finally realized that I can be a real Luthor. I always thought that I could never fit in with this family, that I could never live up to the family name. So I fought it, I tried to force myself to be the complete opposite of what this family stood for. But, now I see it. I can be the person that my mother wants me to be.” Even feigning this speech made Lena sick to her stomach, but she knew that it was essential to her plan that the guard truly believed that she sided with the Lillian. 

She moved her gaze from the floor to the man’s cold eyes. Lena prided herself on being able to accurately read people. Even from his eyes, she could tell that he was starting to believe her, but a flicker of doubt still lingered.

Standing up suddenly, he moved so his face was inches from hers. He had to make sure she wasn’t bluffing. “If I ever find out that you’re lying. . .” His fist came up to the side of Lena’s face, where he had perviously punched her, and pushed on the bruise. “This will be the least of your worries.”

Lena let out a small whimper, both out of pain and trying to sell her act, “No, no, please! I can. . . I can prove it.” 

Removing his fist, he sat back down and crossed his arms again, “How so?”

Lena let out a breath of relief. _Almost there. He’s falling for this trap brilliantly._ “I can go to the lab, I know there must be one here. I can help make the Kryptonite. Besides, it’d be easier than me trying to explain what precisely to do without there being some kind of miscommunication issue. Let me go to the lab, I can prove that I’ve changed.” Lena made her green eyes glimmer with desperation. 

The guard seemed to ponder over what to do. _He’s thinking it over. He probably thinks I have major issues with trying to prove myself, which I guess isn’t entirely wrong._ Lena inwardly smiled. _I’ve got this in the bag. He thinks I’ll believe I’m worthless if I don’t make the Kryptonite- that I’ll do whatever it takes to do right by my mother’s eyes. He’s so gullible, or my acting skills are just that amazing. . . yeah it’s probably the second reason._

“Okay. You want to help? Fine. Who am I to stop you? As long as the job gets done.” He bent down and cut the rope around Lena’s ankles and undid the chains around her wrists. “But,” He roughly pulled her up from the chair, “Make one wrong move and I’ll end you. Understand?” 

Lena widened her eyes and nodded. _This is going perfectly. Time to start phase three._

He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to turn around. He took out a pair of handcuffs and secured Lena’s arms behind her back. “Of course, I’ll be next to you the entire time. Can’t have you wandering around on your own, can we?” The guard casually said, walking over to unlock the cell door. 

Lena nodded in agreement. _I was counting on it._

“Oh, also,” he swung the door open and led her into the hall. “A couple other guards will help escort you to the lab.” He motioned for two other guards that were waking down the otherwise empty hallway.

_Oh shit. Three guards? Now we are amping up the risk._

He turned to the other two Cadmus soldiers. One was a stocky man with a Cadmus issued hat. The other was a woman, she was taller than her partner and lean. “We are going to be taking the Luthor down to the lab, she says she can personally make the Kryptonite for us.”

The female guard eyed Lena up and down, “and she had a change of heart just like that?”

Lena’s heart started racing, this was not part of the plan. They were going to find out the truth, this is the end-

“Well, she had some major convincing from me.” Lena’s original guard said, cracking his knuckles and flashing a smilie. Lena had to stop herself from rolling her eyes- _arrogant jerk._

The woman replied, “If you say so.” She grabbed one of Lena’s elbows and the stocky guard took the other while her original guard led the way.

_Okay, I don’t know how far of a walk it’s going to be to the lab, so I have to act fast. The stocky man poses little threat, he looks like he’s been hitting up the donut shop more than the gym. The other man will be harder to deal with, but now that he’s heard my story, he most likely won’t be expecting my attack. Then the female guard, she’s a different story. Just based on the way she’s holding my arm in an iron grip, I know she’s strong. She will definitely put up a hard fight._

Briefly closing her eyes, Lena readied herself for the first strike. _I have to try and shake off these two guards latched onto my arms if I have any chance of winning. My arms are literally tied behind my back, I can’t have any other restraints on my arms. Okay, step three is a go!_

Lena used all of the force her already fatigued body had and the force of gravity to throw herself toward the floor. The guards on either side of her fell with her, too shocked to fully understand what was happening. As Lena fell, she turned her body so break the grip both guards had on her arms. Each guard practically face planted. 

Lena quickly, accessed the first success and looked up just to see a foot flying at her face. Relying on pure instinct, Lena’s face narrowly dodged the shoe and it clipped her shoulder. Pain flared in her left shoulder as she was thrown on her back. 

The first guard looked pissed, “I can’t believe I thought you were telling the truth! I should’ve known, Lillian warned me about the lies you’d-.” Whatever other demeaning comments he had were cut off by a scream. Lena had kicked his kneecap, which was followed by a sickening snap. 

“Oh, shut the hell up,” Lena snapped, quickly standing up. _One down, two left._

The female Cadmus guard was already on her feet while the stocky man took a bit longer to recover. Lena’s attention turned to the fist being launched at her face. With no arms to block the punch, Lena had to step out of the way. Causing the force behind the woman’s punch to send her surging forward past Lena. 

_Brilliant, I have a few seconds to take out the other man before she fully recovers._

She turned toward the burly man, who was just now raising his arms to fight. Lena ran at him and kicked him square in the chest before the man could blink. As he doubled over, Lena brought a knee to his face. His nose was effectively broken, blood running down his face. He fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious. 

_Bam. Thank you mother for the combat training, maybe you got one thing right while raising me. Two down, one left-_

Lena felt the kick before she knew what happened. The last guard standing kicked Lena in the back _hard._ There was nothing to break Lena’s fall forward, arms stuck behind her. She hit the floor in front of her, the air knocked out of her lungs, her head smashed the ground. Groaning, Lena turned over on her back and blinked hard, trying to clear the stars from her eyesight. The Cadmus woman’s face came into view above Lena. There was a small cut on her forehead from where she hit the ground, but it was nothing compared to the fury written all over her features.

Lena wheezed as the woman kicked her abdomen, then she kicked again, harder. Lena could swear that she heard something inside her crack. Pain made itself felt all over Lena’s torso. She had to come up with a way out of this fast.

The guard picked Lena up by the neck, and slammed her back down on the floor. More stars clouded her blurry vision. She couldn’t take much more of this before she passed out. She landed hard on something. Realization dawned on her, the taser the first guard had fell out of his pocket sometime during the brawl and was now wedged beneath Lena’s back. 

The woman was walking over to Lena, she needed to grab it. Her fingertips brushed against the plastic of the taser’s handle. The woman was towering right over Lena, reaching to pick her up again. Lena’s hand found a firm grasp on the taser.

When the woman’s hand drew near enough, Lena quickly turned so the guard got a handful of an electric shock.

Letting out a small shriek, the guard fell on her knees. Lena pressed the taser against the woman’s belly and shocked her again. Standing up, Lena swiftly bashed her foot into the side of the guard’s head. A flash of guilt washed over Lena, but then she reminded herself that they took Kara and she’d do anything to make sure she’s safe. 

_Three guards down, none to go._

Lena walked over to the knocked out male guard that she first met. Rifling through his pockets the best she could, she found the keys to unlock the handcuffs. Rubbing her raw wrists, she got the keycard clipped to his belt.

Groaning, Lena pushed against her abdomen, it was sore to the touch. No broken ribs, but a possible fracture. Her head throbbed and more cuts littered her body. 

_I still consider the plan to be a overall success so far. Ouch, oh gosh, that’s gonna leave a mark. Okay, maybe not a complete success, but I at least got the job done._

Knowing that she had to get started on the next part of her plan, Lena did a quick survey of her surroundings; each guard was unconscious- _perfect_. She scooped up the taser and stuffed it in her own pocket. _Just in case._ Then, going as fast as her broken body could carry her, Lena made her way down the hall, keycard in hand and unlocked her old cell door. 

She dragged the unconscious woman into the room and took her Cadmus uniform off and put it on herself. Lena had to move slow, mindful of each and every injury on her body as she put on the uniform. When she was dressed in all her Cadmus glory, Lena painfully dragged the other two guards into the room and looking back at them, Lena snatched the Cadmus hat off of the stocky guard. _Can never be too careful._ Putting the cap on, she locked the cell door behind her.

_Onto the fourth step. Gotta find the control room._

Walking down the hallway, Lena was closer to ending all of this madness than she had ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crow, I actually posted the next chapter within a reasonable amount of time? And it's a longer chapter?! How shocking. Any who, as always, thanks for reading!
> 
> Until next time (which might not be too far from now). . .


	8. Hear but Not Heard

The muffled sounds of some sort of altercation drifted through the wall into Kara’s cell. She’d been around enough fights in her life to know that the thumps and crashes she heard were definite signs of one. Settling herself on the floor, Kara focused all of her attention on her superhearing. The fighting sounds may not be that loud to the human ear from where she was, but then again, Kara wasn’t a human. Ignoring the damper the surrounding Kryptonite put on her superpowers, she honed in on the noises. 

It was almost as if the sounds were part of a distant memory, ever present but always out of focus. Kara could tell that the fight was happening at least a couple halls away. She couldn’t tell who was in it, but anyone taking on Cadmus was a friend of hers. 

She heard more yells and smacks. _Dang, someone out there is seriously kicking ass. I wonder who-_

“Oh shut the hell up.”

Kara froze. She immediately knew that voice. _It couldn’t be. She was supposed to stay safe. Lillian couldn’t have caught her. She can’t actually be here right now, kicking Cadmus’ ass. Lena should be far, far away from danger._

Feeling her energy continue to drain faster than she’d care to admit, Kara listened in again. There was no more talking, but she heard someone hit the floor hard with a loud thud. Then there was silence.

_Lena probably downed the last Cadmus guard. She took on these trained soldiers and won. She’s coming to find me right now. Everything is going to be oka-_

Kara heard a muffled kick and a whimper in a voice that only could’ve been Lena’s. Kara went rigid. She heard another kick, followed by another one of Lena’s whimper.

_No, no, no! This can’t be happening._ Kara started banging on the steal door of her cell. _Lena needs my help and I can’t get to her._ The Kryptonite’s strain on her seemed to pull harder and harder. _I can hear_ _her, she’s so close by, and I can’t do anything._ Kara heard another loud thud- someone hitting the floor. _Please, please don’t let that be Lena. Oh Rao, let her be okay._ She heard Lena groan. _Lena!! Run, get out of here. Safe yourself. Don’t get yourself hurt just for me._

As Kara continued to go on a panicked frenzy, she heard a different sound. _Electricity? It . . . sounds like a taser?_ This time, she heard a different voice shriek. _Thank Rao, Lena is up and fighting back. Yes! She’s still okay, or, at least, she’s still alive and kicking- no pun intended._  

Even in the situation she was in, Kara couldn’t help but smile. _Lena kicked ass and now she can find me. It’s almost over, we can escape together. As soon as I get away from this Kryptonite, I can fly us outta here and to the DEO, where we can finally be safe._

Giddy with new found hope, Kara forced herself to use her superhearing again. . . _Lena is heading away from me? Wait, what? Does she know where I am? How will she find me? No, wait! Her footsteps are fading away, I can’t- I’m so tired. I can’t . . . hear her anymore._

Kara slammed her fists against the door, but it was no use. It was a one way street, Kara could hear Lena but she couldn’t hear Kara.

Slowly sliding down to her knees out of exhaustion and despair, Kara started crying, “No. . . Lena, I’m . . . I’m right here.”

__________________________________

Lena started walking down the hallway, away from her old cell. She knew Kara had to be around the facility somewhere, but instead of checking each and every room for her girlfriend, Lena was targeting the control room. That room would hopefully hold the locations of each of the prisoners and have some type of computer in which Lena could use to hack into the DEO’s system and let Alex know where they were. 

Taking a right turn, Lena had a fairly good sense of where she needed to go. She’d been to countless buildings like this one. Back when she was but a child, her and Lex used to roam corridors similar to these. Back when she didn’t fully comprehend what the Luthors did- what they were known for. 

Letting out a long sigh, Lena walked down the longest hallway by far. She knew she had to be close to the center of the building, close to the room she needed. Another steal door appeared in her line of sight, but this one unlike the others, had a camera mounted above it.

_This has to be it. No other doors have cameras, this has to be one of the most important rooms here._

She pulled down her Cadmus hat further, the help cover her face. Walking as nonchalantly as possible, Lena stepped up to the door and scanned the stolen keycard. A second passed, nothing happened. Lena held her breath, _this has to work._ Then the sound of a deadbolt unlocking filled Lena’s ears. 

Holding back a smile, her shaky hand opened the door. Flicking on the lights, Lena knew this was where she needed to be. Well, she needed to be back with Kara at their apartment cuddling under fuzzy blankets while watching a Disney movie or something. But locating the control room is good too.

The room was on the smaller side, monitors and screens filled the desks lining the walls. She saw camera feed from the lab she was supposed to be taken to and feed from the room she just entered. 

_I’ll have to delete the feed of me, no one can know I was here. But there are more important things I have to do first. I have to let the DEO know where we are. And above all else, I need to find Kara. . ._

Sitting at what looked to be a promising computer, Lena began to attack the DEO’s firewall. If she could just get their attention, Winn would know it had to be Lena. Not many people know that the DEO exists and even less people would try to hack them, especially from a Cadmus operated computer.

Fingers flew over the keyboard, typing away furiously. _This is actually a pretty crappy firewall for a secret government organization. I’ll have to tell them about it the next time I see them. Winn and I can make it at least ten times stronger with barely any effort. Honestly, people, this is junk._

__________________________________

“What the. . .? Who is this?”

Winn sat behind his computer at the DEO. Brows knitted together, he leaned forward to figure out what was happening when Alex walked over. 

“What’s going on?” A glimmer of hope radiated in her chest. She was utterly worn thin trying to find Kara and Lena. She and Winn were in charge of the case; Hank couldn’t be as much help, having to still be the director of the DEO. It had been days since Kara and Lena were last seen, and with no other strikes from Cadmus, Alex had no leads to go off of. Her and Maggie already took a NCPD squad over to L Corp to go through the crime scene with a fine toothed comb, but there was nothing to see. No fingerprints, no evidence besides the wrecked office, no indication of where they vanished to whatsoever.

Maggie knew how much pressure Alex was under- sleepless nights, long days, little food. The bags under Alex’s eyes and worry lines made her look five years older. However, there wasn’t much Maggie could do outside of keeping the police department on alert for any sign of Cadmus. Alex was grateful for any extra help she could get, but there was nothing left to see- Cadmus had disappeared off the radar. Until now.

“It . . . looks like a Cadmus user is trying to hack us,” Winn said. 

“What? Do we know what they are trying to take?”

Winn narrowed his eyes at the screen. _It didn’t make any sense. The hacker wasn’t trying to take anything or wasn’t skilled enough to break in . . . but I know what the firewall is like, I’ve been meaning to talk to Lena about upgrading it. Why bother trying to hack us and compromise your location if you can’t get through the defense system? Unless-_

“I think it’s Lena,” Winn blurted out.

The response clearly took Alex by surprise, both eyebrows raised. “You think Lena is using a Cadmus computer to hack us? That doesn’t make sense.”

Winn explained, “I don’t think she’s trying to hack into our system, I think she’s trying to get us to notice her.”

“Because we can pinpoint the computer’s location?”

“Exactly, if a Cadmus worker was doing this, they’d at least hire someone that could break through the firewall. This hacker is just drawing more attention to themself.”

Alex put a hand on his shoulder. “And you’re sure about this?” She asked, looking directly at Winn.

“Absolutely. It has to be Lena.”

“Okay, I’ll assemble a strike team. Send me that location.” Alex strapped her firearm to her thigh, walking briskly out of the room.

“Alex, wait!”  She turned back around. “Be careful out there, it will take you about 20 minutes to get there, come up with a plan before you go barging in. We can’t afford to lose you to Cadmus too.”

Alex gave a crooked smile and walked back to Winn. “Aw, going all soft on me?” She ruffled his hair, causing him to try and swat her, which she easily dodged. “Don’t worry, I’ll get them back. You did your part, now I’ll do mine.”

As Alex walked out of the room, Winn called, “Finally you're doing your job.”

Alex chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam. Another chapter out. We are getting close to the end of the line, people- hold onto your socks.
> 
> Until next time!


	9. Opened Opportunities

_Boom baby! That’s how it’s done. On to step five._ Lena grinned and cracked her knuckles. She stood up from the computer and stretched, mindful of her wounds. _Alex and Winn had to have known it was me, the DEO will be here in no time. Unless . . ._ Lena shook her head. _No they are coming. We’re saved._

Lena pushed down her doubt and moved on to the new task at hand. _Find Kara._

Looking around, she saw a sheet of paper that was taped to the desk a few chairs over. Upon closer inspection, the paper had each room listed by number. Under the cell block section, Lena saw several room numbers but had no way of knowing which one Kara was in.

Running her tongue across her teeth, she leaned back in the chair. _Okay, so now I have a list of possible cells she could be in, but there’s no way I can open each door from here. I have to be at least somewhat discreet. And I can’t just randomly pick a cell to open. But what if . . . Kara isn’t being kept in a regular cell at all? A simple cell certainly can’t contain a Kryptonian._

Lena went back to the list, but instead of looking under the cell block’s list, she kept skimming until she found-

_The Green Room. That has to be code for Kryptonite. That’s where they are keeping Kara. It has to be._

Sitting back down at the computer, Lena pulled up the cell number Kara was in. Only doubting herself for a split second, Lena overrode the manual lock on the Green Room.

Hoping her instincts were right, Lena began to stand up. _Kara is free and the DEO is coming.This is all about to be over._

And that’s when Lena heard the deadbolt behind her unlock.

__________________________________

Kara snapped her eyes open. _Did I just hear that door unlock?_

She slowly stood up and crept over to the door. Silently grabbing the handle, like she was afraid making any noise would shatter this fantasy of escaping, she turned and pushed. _The door- it opened!_ Stepping out into the hallway, Kara saw no Cadmus guards nearby.

Firmly shutting the door behind her, Kara finally felt free. She could feel her powers seeping back into her system. It was like taking a breath of fresh air after being inside too long; like dancing in the rain after an interminable drought.

Clenching and unclenching her fists, Kara knew what she had to do next. _Find Lena. She’s here, she’s probably responsible for getting this door open. I need to find her._

Using her superhearing without any restrictions for the first time in what felt like years, Kara tuned in to Lena’s heartbeat. She could pick out Lena’s heartbeat across National City, finding it here was no difficult task.

Except something was entirely off- Lena’s heart was hammering. Taking off at a sprint, Kara went after Lena.

__________________________________

_Ow, ouch, yeah that’s gonna hurt in the morning. Who am I kidding? It hurts now. The plan didn’t involve getting the shit beat out of me so many times._ Lena dodged another fist, the quick move sending pain flaring in her torso.

About a minute ago, a pair of Cadmus soldiers walked into the control room and immediately recognized Lena. Computers were smashed, screens got cracked, papers thrown.

Lena readied herself for the next strike. _My hands were tied before, what happens when I’m finally set free?_ Lena socked the closest guard straight in the throat. When the next slug came, Lena ducked, grabbed his wrist, and used all her strength to fling him over her shoulder.

The pair got back up and charged at Lena when there was a sudden whirl of red and blue. Both of them were slammed into the wall and crumpled to the floor. Panting, Lena let her fists loosen and drop to her sides. _Kara._

Kara’s eyes widened as she took it the sight of Lena, the side of her mouth was a big bruise, scratches peppered her arms, her knuckles were red from punching, but she was there- standing in all her badass glory.

Staggering forward, Lena crashed into Kara’s warm embrace. “Lena! Are you okay?” Kara tried to create some distance between them so she could properly look at Lena’s injuries, but Lena tightened her grip on Kara, refusing to let go. “What hurts? Babe, you’re going to have to tell me what’s wrong.”

Sobs wracked through Lena’s body. “I thought. . . I lost you.” Kara’s heart dropped at Lena’s confession.

Salty tears streamed down Kara’s face as she responded, “Hey, Lena, look at me,” Green eyes met blue. “You’ll never lose me. Ever.”

Neither could say who started the kiss but, when their lips pressed together, the worry and tension from the past few days drained away. Standing in the middle of a Cadmus fortress, Kara and Lena kissed until they had to come up for air.

Lena looked at her girlfriend and cracked a grin. “You know that I coulda handled those two guards myself, right?”

Kara chuckled, “Yeah, I know. . .” A frown tugged at Kara’s lips. “But I- I heard what happened- the fighting earlier. I heard you getting. . .”

“Kara! Oh, no. I didn’t know you could hear all of that.” Lena stumbled over her words, trying to soothe Kara. “I’m okay, really. Just a little banged up is all.” Lena automaticity insisted, placing a ensuring hand on Kara’s arm. “Darling, I’m fine.”

Kara looked no where near convinced. “Lena, I know that you’re-” Kara’s eyes suddenly shot to the door, “More guards are coming. Come on, we can talk about this later. We have to hurry!” She grabbed Lena’s hand and pulled.

They both ran out of the room and down the hallway as Kara led them away from the sound of the thundering footsteps.

After what seemed like the fiftieth hall, a feeling of fatigue crept over Lena. Panting, she shook her head. “I can’t keep going on.” Her knees wouldn’t support her much longer, her legs felt like jelly.

Sensing what was happening, Kara rushed over, “Hey, it’s okay. I got you now.” She scooped Lena into her arms and carried her bridal style down another hall.

Nestled next to Kara’s neck, Lena felt her eyelids growing heavy, but she fought to stay awake. “The DEO,” she mumbled just loud enough for Kara to hear, “They’re coming.”

“What? How did Alex find us?” Kara asked, not slowing down as the yells of Cadmus soldiers grew louder behind them.

“I told them where we are. They should be here any-”

A deafening explosion shook the building’s foundation. More soldiers came running down the hall in front of Kara. She prepared herself to fight them all off with Lena cradled protectively in her arms but something stopped her.

_Is that Alex?!_

The DEO had finally arrived as the crowd of Cadmus operatives closed in from behind Kara.

Relief rolled over Alex when she saw Kara, from the looks of her she seemed fine, a little shaken and tired, but okay nonetheless. When Alex looked at her arms, she noticed that Kara was carrying someone. _Oh damn, is that Lena?_

Alex ran up to them as the DEO charged the fleeing Cadmus guards. “Supergirl! Are you alright? What happened to Lena?”

Slightly lowering her arms, Kara let Alex get a better look at Lena. “She got a little bit banged up from her time here. She says she’s fine, Alex, but we both know that that’s not true.” Silent tears pricked at Kara’s eyes.

Lena stirred slightly in her girlfriend’s strong arms until she made eye contact with Alex. “I knew you’d get my message.” A small smile formed on her lips.

Happy that Lena was at least conscious, Alex smiled back, “You bet your ass we got your message. We couldn’t have gotten here without you.” Then she looked up at Kara, “Take Lena directly to the DEO med bay. You both need to get checked out. I can handle the situation here.”

Nodding, Kara started flying through the gaping hole in the wall left by the DEO’s grand entrance. “I’ll meet you at the DEO then. Be safe.”

Lena snuggled back into the warmth of Kara’s arms as they flew to the DEO and let her eyes drift closed. Feeling, for the first time in days, perfectly safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! We're almost at the end of this story. Let's hope for some fluff in the last chapter (finally). Also, there's a tiny reference to Captain Marvel in this chapter, if anyone caught it. 
> 
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure ya'll know this but, none of the characters I used in this story belong to me and are property of the CW.
> 
> I also changed the synopsis of this work to better suit the story. Thanks again for reading.


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